New research to revolutionise understanding of lung cancer

19 July 2013

Researchers
at UCL and University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are involved
in a landmark study to unlock the secrets of lung cancer, tracking in real time
how lung tumours develop and evolve as patients receive treatment.

This
is one of the largest ever studies of lung
cancer patients globally and over
nine years it will examine exactly how lung cancers mutate, adapt and become
resistant to treatments.

The
study - called TRACERx (Tracking Cancer Evolution through Therapy) - has been
launched by Cancer Research UK and will recruit 850 lung cancer patients from
across the UK and take samples of their tumour before and following surgery and
subsequently if the disease recurs.

Biopsies
will be taken from different parts of each patient's tumour and analysed with
the latest technology to give a more comprehensive genetic profile. Different
parts of a tumour can evolve independently, so a sample from one region alone
might contain different genetic changes to another sample, elsewhere in the
tumour. Patients will also have blood tests to examine DNA from the cancer that
might be circulating in the bloodstream.

We plan to harness new sequencing technologies to trace the genetic evolution of cancer over the course of the disease. Our research will help explain why lung cancer is difficult to treat, and steer a path towards saving more lives.

Professor Charles Swanton, UCL Cancer Institute

Researchers
will then be able to compare genetic changes within and between patients,
record how the treatment changes the genetic profile of their disease, and how
this ultimately affects the patients' chances of survival.

The
combination of these techniques will give an unprecedented insight into lung
cancer and allow researchers to identify and understand the precise genetic
makeup of lung cancers. The results will also lay the foundations for being
able to offer patients treatment that is tailored to the specific genetic
makeup of their cancer.

University
College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust will
be leading the thoracic surgery for the research.

Professor
Charles Swanton, lead researcher at the UCL Cancer Institute, said: "Success
in treating lung cancer has been difficult to achieve but we're hoping to
change that. The first step to improving cancer diagnosis and treatment is to
understand more about the disease and how it changes over time.

"Research has
led us to this point when, after decades of earlier work, we can look to the
future with real optimism. We plan to harness new sequencing technologies to
trace the genetic evolution of cancer over the course of the disease. Our
research will help explain why lung cancer is difficult to treat, and steer a
path towards saving more lives."

Professor Sam Janes, Lung Cancer
Pathway Director at London Cancer said: "This is a huge commitment to
lung cancer research from Cancer Research UK and it's great that Professor
Charlie Swanton at UCL will be running this with London Cancer at the
lead. Patients undergoing surgery at University College Hospital will
have their cancer checked for mutated genes before and after any accompanying
chemotherapy. Through this work we hope to be able to understand why some
patients respond to chemotherapy and why some don't."

Around 42,000 people are
diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK every year, with around 35,000 deaths from
the disease. TRACERx will help to improve the understanding of the disease and
ultimately the outlook for patients and their families.